Bitcoin critic, ECB chief Lagarde says her son ‘ignored’ her, lost money on crypto: Report

European Central Bank (ECB) president and prominent Bitcoin (BTC) critic Christine Lagarde has shared a family story about unsuccessful cryptocurrency investments, according to a report from Reuters.

Lagarde told students at a town hall in Frankfurt on Nov. 24 that her son lost “almost all” of his investments in crypto assets despite persistent warnings, Reuters reported.

“He ignored me royally, which is his privilege,” Lagarde reportedly declared, adding that he lost “almost all the money he had invested.”

The ECB chief didn’t disclose the sum her son lost, noting that he claimed it wasn’t “a lot,” but only “about 60%” of his crypto investments. “So when I then had another talk with him about it, he reluctantly accepted that I was right,” Lagarde reportedly stated, adding:

“I have, as you can tell, a very low opinion of cryptos […] People are free to invest their money where they want, people are free to speculate as much as they want, (but) people should not be free to participate in criminally sanctioned trade and businesses.”

Lagarde is known in the cryptocurrency community for her anti-crypto stance. In 2022, the ECB chief argued that cryptocurrencies are “worth nothing” because the assets are “based on nothing.” In 2021, the ECB president also predicted that central banks worldwide would not be holding Bitcoin anytime soon.

Related: European regulator: CASPs should work on protocol interoperability, self-hosted wallets

While criticizing cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Lagarde has emerged as a major fan of the concept of the central bank digital currency. In April 2023, Lagarde admitted that a potential digital euro would be used in a “limited” way to control day-to-day payments.

This is a developing story, and further information will be added as it becomes available.

Magazine: How to protect your crypto in a volatile market — Bitcoin OGs and experts weigh in